Center Perspectives
Tawanna Black
Realizing Dr. King’s Vision: Equitable pay for ...

St. Paul - So much of America’s progress would not have been possible without the transformational work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Today, the Center for Economic Inclusion recognizes Dr. King’s work to more equitably pay workers in the service sectors.

Government

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Statewide Housing Amendment: An Innovative Solution to Close Racial Homeownership Gaps

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Isaac Russell

By Isaac Russell Director of Policy

Across the country, many states and municipalities are facing critical housing challenges—shortages of affordable housing can lead to crises for low-income renters, which also means that potential first-time homeowners are priced out of the market.  

In Minnesota, these pains are felt acutely and disproportionately by Indigenous people and people of color. The Center’s Indicators for an Inclusive Regional Economy show racial homeownership gaps persist, even among households with similar incomes. This suggests that Black, Indigenous, Latine, and Asian families face additional burdens to homeownership beyond earned income. Among families earning between $50,000 to $100,000 annually, only 41% of Black households own their homes compared to 72% of White households. These racial disparities also exist among low-income renters. Low-income Korean American, White, and Black households are hit hardest, with more than 3 in 5 renters in these communities being disproportionately rent-burdened.  

Dedicated Affordable Housing Dollars: A Constitutional Approach 

To find solutions, policymakers and industry groups are looking for statewide solutions to address these housing crises. One innovative solution to move the needle is a proposal for a constitutional amendment that would dedicate revenue to the construction of affordable housing, rental assistance, and homeownership.  

While this solution alone will not solve racial inequities in housing, it does address one of the foundational problems, which is a shortage of affordable housing. If we define affordable housing as 30 percent of area median income, the metro area is short approximately 71,491 units. To build a single unit of affordable housing, including years-long subsidization of the unit, costs approximately $300,000. This comes out to an over $21 billion price tag to build these units. According to the Minnesota Housing Partnership, our state is short approximately 103,600 units with a price tag of $31 billion. 

Accessible Homeownership Builds Inclusive Regional Economies 

Across Minnesota, this crisis extends to families that wish to purchase a home. It is estimated that 27,000 families can afford homeownership but continue to rent due to the lack of available housing stock within their price range. To facilitate more home ownership among underrepresented communities, we must address stagnant funding to programs designed to help construct new housing. These include programs such as the HOME Investment Partnership Program and the Community Development Block Grant Program, which have helped to compound multi-year housing shortages. The urgency for such investments can be seen in the Metropolitan Council’s projections, which show the region will gain 367,000 new households by 2040. That means we will need nearly 13,000 new housing units of all types. The region has produced less than this number per year for the past decade! An inclusive economy makes the stability and wealth-building benefits of homeownership accessible to all households, regardless of their race or ethnicity. 

Systemic Solutions for Systemic Problems 

All of this goes to the heart of why the Center supports a constitutional amendment that dedicates three-eighths of a percent sales tax to the building of affordable housing, makes financial resources available for homeownership, and provides support for housing stability. Modeled after our very successful Legacy Amendment, this initiative creates three advisory committees that will provide recommendations for lawmakers when they decide how they will allocate resources.  

To make this happen, we need legislation that authorizes a referendum for voters. This referendum will require support from a wide array of stakeholders to let the public know of this initiative and also a show of support from constituents.  

We know this one amendment will not solve all our housing challenges, but it is one of the tools in the toolbox that will build the homes Minnesotans need.   

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A Long Overdue Investment in Racial Justice: Raising Wages for Care Workers

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Betsy Ohrn

By Betsy Ohrn Director of Research

At the Center for Economic Inclusion, we believe all workers should earn a family sustaining wage.

One racial equity priority that we were excited to see reflected in Governor Walz’s proposed budget is a major investment to increase the wages of direct care workers. The budget includes $300 million in this biennium and $500 million in the next to implement the tentative contract agreement between the State of Minnesota and SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa, providing a historic rate increase for more than 20,000 home care workers in Minnesota.  This is a critical opportunity to address a deep racial injustice that touches the lives of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans. 

“As a woman of color who has chosen to make Homecare a career choice I cannot express how discouraging it is to find an occupation that you truly love and are made for, which also benefits the people you provide services to, but find that you can’t earn enough at to financially support your own household without some type of assistance or additional employment.”- Tavona Johnson 

Women make up 85% of the direct care workforce, 36% of these workers are people of color. Based on DEED data, almost 11% of working Black Minnesotans work as direct care workers (personal care workers, or nursing/home health aides.) This follows a national trend which also shows that Black women are deeply overrepresented in direct care occupations. This occupational segregation reflects a legacy of slavery and domestic servanthood that continues today. Where enslaved Black women were once charged with caring for White children, Black women were then sidelined into work as domestic servants and childcare workers, and now increasingly they are called to care for the growing elderly population. 

The injustice is not the work itself, but the fact that the work continues to be deeply underpaid, even though this work is essential to the well-being of hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans. In 2020, the average wage for all direct care workers in Minnesota was $14.72 per hour. Around 40% of direct care workers have insurance through Medicaid, Medicare, or another public source.1  

Further, these professions are critical to the future of Minnesota, especially as our population continues to age. Direct Care Workers, nursing assistants and personal care assistants, are two of the fastest growing professions in Minnesota. However, low wages and challenging working conditions are already resulting in large vacancy rates. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, the last estimate at the end of 2021 showed more than 9,100 job openings — a vacancy rate of 8.4%. In 2022, Minnesota nursing homes reported the largest staffing shortages in the country. These staffing shortages make the work harder for the remaining care workers, place extreme stress on family members, and are creating burdens on our hospital system.  Having committed, well-trained, and experienced workers in these roles is critical to the dignity and well-being of Minnesotans needing care.  

While some employers may want to raise wages, market failures and policy hold back what is possible. Federal Medicaid and Medicare rules constrain how much states can reimburse for direct care services. For this reason, state level leadership is critical to this issue. The agreement between SEIU Healthcare and the State of Minnesota would increase starting wages from $15.25 to $20 per hour by 2025. The deal covers more than 20,000 caregivers, about a fifth of the total direct care workers across the state. If the legislature approves and funds this contract, it will be a significant step forward for many direct care workers.  

This is a historic investment in the wages of workers who are essential to Minnesota’s economy. Not only does this benefit our homecare workers, it also goes a long way to attract committed people to these important jobs. However, you do not need to be a member of SEIU to show your support.  

  • Want to know more about how we do our research? Check out our Indicators for an Inclusive Regional Economy

  • Take Action: Find and call your legislator. Let them know you support this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our workers and of all Minnesotans that need dedicated people caring for them. 

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Previewing the Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector

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Nathan Arnosti

By Nathan Arnosti, Director of Analytics

Racial Equity: The New Public Priority

Forward-thinking leaders in local governments across the country recognize that many existing practices and policies stand in the way of goals to build racially equitable, inclusive, and prosperous communities.

Studies show that status quo practices – outdated job requirements that exclude candidates of color, purchasing agreements with longstanding contractors that hinder their ability to diversify their supply chains and increase regional job growth among Black, Indigenous, Hispanic, and Asian entrepreneurs,  land use planning that fails to integrate the needs and perspectives of historically marginalized communities, economic development incentives that subsidize low-wage job creation –exacerbate racial wealth gaps and restrict regional economic growth.

​​​​​​​Meanwhile, emerging practices based on research and pilot demonstrations in local governments across the country offer paths to improved service delivery, community relations, livability, and shared economic prosperity.

Many local governments have established taskforces and committees, created new permanent roles and teams, and joined peer learning networks to make progress towards becoming more racially equitable and inclusive. Yet these efforts are too often piecemeal, siloed within specific departments, and lacking broader context and peer comparison. Based on conversations we’ve had with public sector leaders and partners in recent months, we believe that those looking to take their next steps towards building racially equitable governments would benefit from a new tool developed by the Center for Economic Inclusion, the Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector.

What Gets Measured, Gets Done

This analytical tool evaluates a local government’s internal and external-facing practices across ten dimensions, including Procurement, Community and Economic Development, and Budgets, identifying more than 60 racial equity standards that research and experience affirm to support more racially equitable and inclusive outcomes. Participating organizations receive a customized score report that provides a clear, concise, quantified picture of their government’s overall current state for supporting racial equity, benchmarks progress against peers, and identifies opportunities for further progress. High-scoring entities will also be publicly recognized in an annual Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector report. The Public Sector Index structure is modeled off of the Center’s Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Private Sector, which launched in 2022 for private sector employers.

How To Participate

Registration for the first annual Racial Equity Dividends Index for the Public Sector begins at the end of April and will be available to city and county governments in Minnesota and select jurisdictions across the United States. Email me at narnosti@centerforeconomicinclusion.org if you have questions, and stay tuned for more information about registration for the Public Sector Index in the coming weeks!